On the beat for eats | Dandenong Star Journal starcommunity.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from starcommunity.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong Council needs to restore community “trust” that it will deliver the long-awaited Dandenong Community Hub project, Cr Jim Memeti says.
In response to a 406-signature residents petition, Cr Memeti proposed a community working group including residents, the mayor, councillors and council officers.
“At the moment the residents have lost a little bit of trust in the council,” he told Star Journal.
“They’re very happy with forming a meeting group… and we can step out how to achieve this hub.”
Petitioners called on the council to deliver on $80,000 concept plans by the end of June – as budgeted in 2020-‘21.
By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Dandenong Market’s bevy of food traders are cooking up one-off special dishes for the return of Dandenong World Fare festival.
The eye-catching options include a rarely-seen purple yam dough sensation that’s popular breakfast or snack fare in the Philippines.
Served warm, the ‘Ube Cheese Pandesal’ is filled with a sweet yam jam and melted cheese. The handmade dough is light as a donut’s.
Its creator Catherine from Si Kat Pinoy Eatscetera – known for Filipino street food – says the yam is an easy-to-grow staple used most commonly in poorer, rural areas of her homeland.
But they’re much more expensive in Australia. So she confines purple yam dishes as one-off specials such as for Dandenong Food Fare.
Traders selling election campaign merchandise said that COVID-19 pandemic and strict restrictions by the Election Commission have kept the demand for campaign material for West Bengal Assembly polls this year low compared to earlier elections. They said most of the demand till now for poll campaign material is from the Trinamool Congress which has already announced its full list of candidates on Friday. Demand is on the lower side compared to previous elections due to various factors including COVID-19 and EC s restrictions, traders said. However, they are optimistic that demand will pick-up as poll heat rises with every passing day.
Fed-up residents have urged Greater Dandenong Council to get on with the long-awaited Dandenong Community Hub.
Concept plans for the proposed centre – potentially with early childhood services, informal meeting rooms and activity spaces – appear to have stalled.
The council has no timeline for completion.
In a 406-signature petition, residents have called on the council to complete the concept plans – as it had promised by the end of June 2021.
The petition also calls for community consultation on its location, including the option of the Dandenong Market precinct in Clow Street.
Petitioner Silvia Mastrogiavanni said Dandenong residents have endured “excuses” for at least a decade as they waited for “a place with a community heart”.